Your annual planning session is over. You’ve clarified the vision, set the goals, and aligned your Senior Leadership Team around what matters most. That’s no small feat, so it’s time to take a moment to celebrate.
But planning is just the beginning. What happens next determines whether the work you just did turns into real progress or gets buried under the day-to-day.
Here are four steps to take right after planning to help turn alignment into real follow-through:
Host a strong State of the Company: Walk the full team through where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and why it matters.
Cascade the goals: Every team should hold its own planning session. They need to connect the company’s goals to their own Rocks. That’s how ownership starts.
Build systems for execution: Weekly Team Meetings, Scorecards, Quarterly Planning — these aren’t just routines. They’re what keep the plan alive week after week.
Use data and dialogue: Numbers give you visibility, and conversation gives you traction. When teams feel safe naming what’s not working, they can fix it before it derails progress.
And if you missed last week’s issue on the founder’s role in annual planning, it’s worth a look. Execution only works when the direction is clear and the plan reflects what matters most.
PERSPECTIVES
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work." — Peter Drucker, Management Consultant and Author
MARK MY WORDS
One of the biggest shifts I’ve made as a founder is learning that execution doesn’t come from intensity. It comes from steady and consistent follow-through.
You can leave a planning session fired up, full of goals and ideas, but if there aren’t systems in place to keep that work visible and moving, that energy loses momentum. People get busy but disconnected because they stop seeing how their work contributes to the larger purpose.
We’ve built a routine at Ninety that keeps the plan alive. One that includes Weekly Team Meetings, clear Rocks, honest conversations, and a steady focus on what matters most. Not because we’re perfect, but because without it, we’d fall back into old habits.
Your people don’t need pressure. They need structure. That’s what helps them show up consistently and keep the work that actually matters moving forward.
TUNE IN
Why Brand and Culture Can’t Be Afterthoughts with Jed Morley What does it really take to build a brand that matters and lasts? In this episode, I talk with Jed Morley, founder of Backstory Branding and author of Building a Brand That Scales.
You’ll learn:
Why great brands start with clarity and purpose
How culture becomes the delivery system for your brand promise
The danger of waiting too long to define who you are and why you exist
Ninety’s EOS® Annual Planning Guide If you're running an EOS Annual Planning Session, this guide is for you. It's the same one we use inside Ninety and with the teams we coach. You'll find everything you need to lead a clear, focused, high-trust session without overcomplicating the process.
In case you missed it, here’s more from Founder’s Framework:
The Standard of Competence
Plans only work when your people understand what “great” looks like. This piece explores how strong companies define competence, build trust through clarity, and create a culture where follow-through isn’t optional.
Plans don’t execute themselves. This track is a reminder that real progress comes from showing up, staying consistent, and moving forward step by step.
